As is well known to those skilled in the art, liquid hydrocarbons may be combined with alcohols, typically water-miscible alcohols. Typical of such products is gasahol, a mixture of motor fuel, such as gasoline or naptha with an alcohol, such as ethanol. It is found that such mixtures are normally single-phase mixtures when formulated from eg gasoline and anhydrous ethanol; but those formulated from gasoline and 95 w % ethanol are two phase mixtures characterized at best by a haze and at worst by separation into a water phase and a hydrocarbon phase. Even gasohol prepared from dry gasoline and anhydrous ethanol picks up water from various sources during handling; and the presence of this water in amounts as small as 0.1 v %-4 v % (depending on the temperature and the composition of the product) may cause the composition to separate into two phases: (i) a hydrocarbon phase and (ii) an alcohol-water phase.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method of treating such mixtures to prevent formation of more than one phase. Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.